a b-day girl, BBS, All I want for Christmas is a non-disappearing remote, & updates: Mini and the gifted dresses

Today is Curly's 17th birthday. As far as b-days go, finals week isn't ideal. But Curly is a sweet girl (so long as you don't offer advise about how she might want to style her curls) who works hard and is a friend to everyone, always inclusive. She loves that Reg is home weekly during what was almost his first year away for college. Is it wrong that I'm crossing my fingers that these two end up at the same college since they'll be heading to school only a year apart? My fav Curly post continues to be this one about her intro to tampons. Might also be my most fav post of all time. In case you haven't read it, check it out the next time you need a solid chuckle.

BBS:  we didn't have time to watch the British Baking Show like I thought we would that one Friday night when we ended up going shopping with my mom. But Coach, Reg, Kay, Rae and I watched an episode the next night in the basement. We started with 2017, because that's as far back as Netflix would go. We enjoyed it, but at this rate (since it's 2? weeks later and we haven't watched another episode) Coach and I will be empty nesters by the time we catch up. 

Curly would've loved it too, but she went out to eat with her team after their crazy win. (I almost cut this next section about Curly and bball -skip it if you prefer, my feelings won't be hurt. Everyone is busy and not necessarily needing to read my vent).

The (non-BBS) season:   Curly has gone from being part of a 4th in state team, to a team that resembles a Bad News Bears version of b-ball. The AD hired Curly's coach to takeover for the boys' varsity team. A position that opened up after the varsity team coach was fired for what he did to Reg. In other words, this feels like a ripple effect of that ordeal and it's impacting Curly. 

Curly misses having a real coach. Her new coach is over the moon crazy about her. He told me that she's like his assistant coach. Um, she doesn't want to be an assistant coach. She wants to be coached. She's a junior, and she wants a coach to correct her, advise her, and challenge her. He doesn't believe in plays. He calls them actions. Curly was like, Call them what you want, but we need to review them at each practice cuz this team needs the reminders. (majority of the girls don't play b-ball outside of school, and they rely on plays to know what to do next, etc.)

The bench consists of a few seniors who joined the team this year in order to get a senior banner. I've seen them practically fall off the bench giggling during the games. I'm all for incorporating fun into sports, etc. but they're sort of checked out. The coach did finally tell them that they had to knock it off or stop showing up. So, at least he is paying attention to that. He doesn't have the girls run. Doesn't believe in it. This isn't chess, it's basketball. He was refusing to use man to man defense. That would be like a baseball team asking their players to go to bat without using a bat. Curly did convince him, after a tough loss to a team we should've beaten, that they have to go to a man to man when they're playing a team that's scoring 3's left and right. 

Lately Curly has been in a bit of a slump, missing more 3s than she's making. She looks like a different kid out there. Frazzled. I think she feels like she has to guide the team and give them direction while playing, because the coach isn't providing typical coaching direction.

This is a collapsible laundry basket.
 Reg claims he tossed the remote
 on the couch the night before it went
 missing. Well, that could mean anything,
 esp. because laundry lives on our couches.
 He found the remote Sunday am. He'd
 looked 'all through' the laundry, but it
 was nestled into the folds of the collapsible
 basket. AKA he looked for it
 like a male looks for things. 

On top of that, one of our starters tore her ACL in the Thanksgiving tournament. It's heartbreaking. She's a 3 season athlete and will now miss soccer in the spring - her favorite sport. One of our best guards is only a sophomore, and misses games sometimes because soccer is her main sport and she travels/plays year round. 

That ACL tear's mom once coached a high school team to a state tournament. I wish she would've applied to coach the team. She is always positive, knows the game. After pointing out that the current coach has no intensity (which was an excellent observation), she said she'd come back as an assistant if my Coach agrees to be head coach, just like decades ago at the YMCA when our girls were tiny. Coach got a good chuckle at the thought - as anything past YMCA level coaching is above his pay grade. 

Do you see what I see? Fun
looking in the family room
 vs the 'lost remote' looking

Why did we watch TV in the basement? Reg lost the remote to the TV the day before. He was the last to have it, and since his memory is compromised and he sometimes puts things in weird places I worried he threw it in the garbage while on autopilot (like maybe with a wrapper or an empty microwave popcorn bag, but that would involve kids TOSSING out the used popcorn bag, so there's that). 

It was finally found the next morning despite the fact that we tore the family room apart the night before.

Updates on Mini and the case of the gifted Macy's dresses:  My next post will be after Christmas. There is much happening here (I can't make it to the ND playoff game - tailgating in the bitter cold doesn't interest me, and Curly has a game that night, but TODAY, I decided to bring breakfast to the dorm Saturday morning after the big game when we all have to pack up the rooms because all the girls are going abroad after break). This might be over the top, but my FOMO was kicking in. I love these folks and it was killing me that they're all gonna be in town).

II keep jotting down things I need to do and then needing to start a fresh list to add more things. I'd be lost without Tank. He's been instrumental in stepping up and pitching in. Keeping me afloat. He did a great job caring for the tots/babies while I was MIA in South Bend tending to Mini. Reg is home too now, and equally at my service. So, I've got that going for me, which is good. 

I could write a whole week's worth of posts about that ND overnight stay. It wasn't pretty. Mini (suffering from extreme test anxiety isn't sleeping) fell asleep FINALLY  at 7:50 am. I left for home, stole her phone with it's alarm set for 10 am and gave it to the front desk, hoping she'd sleep till noon when they agreed to wake her up (her exam was at 7:30 pm). The hotel offered to use its shuttle to drive her back to her dorm. She woke up on her own at 10 am, found my note, and got her phone from the front desk. *sigh* She's requested I keep my phone on again tonight, so I'm sorta on call. I still need to go back and respond to comments from my post last week. Thanks for your patience. Oh, AND I finally got someone at Macy's to answer the phone. They can't tell who ordered the dresses, but they were ordered online. Sent to me - using my name and my home address. So strange. I think I can go to the store and return them, and they'll credit the person's card. Stay tuned. 

Weirdest place you've misplaced a remote? I had just looked at Best Buy's website and was about to send Reg to go buy a new ROKU one. Then shouts of joy. 

a mystery delivery, a lovely blog gift, the plot thickens, a kid who can't count sheep, Plus teen issue & an achy, breaky back

It's a mystery:  An unexpected package arrived from Macy's on Friday - addressed to me. It was a fancy, black, size L, dress with rhinestones on the sleeves. There was no note, and it wasn't wrapped. Huh?

I got distracted, and set it aside. 

Why distracted:  Rae blew up at me  Thursday. That time-suck episode caused me to race around Friday, playing catch up. Thursday evening we had no games. I was gonna tackle stuff. Then KABOOM. (Coach and I had a late evening emergency call with the fam therapist Thursday. By the time you read this - Rae has apologized, and we are back on track, but it was an unpleasant few days).

Me:  It felt like we were taking backward steps, and I REALLY don't wanna go back. We've come so far. 

She agreed. 

I wrote up all the details, but maybe I'll share later. This is getting lengthier than intended. 

I think this is the latest I've ever finished my Christmas poem. If you'd like to receive a Christmas card and my poem, feel free to fill out this form. After slouching in my chair all day Friday and Saturday, squinting at my screen - my low back is killing me, which in turn is making my head ache. I did it to myself. I know this. When it comes to the videos I create to share during graduation parties, and the Christmas poem with the photo collage - I morph into a perfectionist. 

If you saw the state of my house or my STILL-incomplete closet clean out project, you'd not identify me as a perfectionist in all things. I need to learn to limit my energy on the poem/photo gathering project, cuz I'm in pain and I gotta carry babies around for the next four days. I did manage to go for a run Sunday am, and I'm kneeling on a cushion while typing this, so, progress? 

A whole supply of cozy,
warm socks. 

On Saturday, a package arrived from Michelle at MG Doodle Studio. So fun. I waited
until a time when more of my people were around to watch me open it/when Rae had returned from the alien, yet all-too familiar, land of teenage angst. I opened it Sunday and the crowd rejoiced. Such a wonderful, abundant collection of cozy socks.  And a really cute gnome wearing a cozy sweater and matching hat. Thank you to Michelle for the very generous, lovely gift with a sweet card. 

Coach:  Hang on. I could use some cozy socks. I wanna blog. 

The plot thickens:  Then ANOTHER package from Macy's arrived, with another special occasion dress in a size 10. What on earth? 

Twice as confusing. 

Macy's is my mom's fav place to shop, so I texted my sibs to ask if anyone had taken Nana to Macy's and let her loose without any supervision. (not that she'd recall my address without help).

It's wild. What's happening? Of course, my brother Pat created some hilarious scenario where a girl my age named Georgia, who my mom used to babysit after school when we were kids, was sending me fancy dresses in order to reconnect.

When counting sheep won't work:  Poor Mini. She's been experiencing test anxiety this semester. Will spend an entire night not sleeping a wink. Not because she's studying, but because she can't fall asleep. No caffeine or anything. She's super private about it, so if you happen to know her IRL please do not mention.

Gnome keeping me company at
my computer. The Macy's box and
dresses in the background. 

Becky tried to set my new phone so that Mini can break thru my silenced phone and call me at any hour. Turns out she called 3 times Friday night and it never worked. I left my  sound on Sat. night and told her to call me if needed. She called me at 1 am and again at 2 am. We talked for a bit. She put earbuds in and I tried to just talk while she drifted off. Can you believe, I ran out of things to say? How is that even possible? I was trying to not bother her with any talk about ALL THE STUFF I NEED TO DO. Eventually she disconnected and told me today that she didn't go to sleep until around 4 am (maybe 3 my time) - but slept 6 hours. 

The plan:  I'll drive to South Bend Monday evening (if I'm lucky - maybe late afternoon, and stay in a hotel room across from campus with her. Change of scenery/back massage/no loud people in the hallway. I'll wake up early - I hope, tiptoe out, and drive back to babysit. She can uber or walk back to her dorm when she wakes up. Her first exam is Tuesday evening. If I'm not here by the time tots are dropped off, Coach will be here till 8ish and Tank will be home. He can hold down the fort. Babies and tots are crazy about him. Praying she can get back on track, because it's not an easy situation. 

********

In my mind this was a short post about the mystery secret Santa dresses, and my lovely new sock collection and cute gnome. But here we are. 

Have you ever gotten mystery special occasion dresses? (I plan to call Macy's and see if they can track down who these are supposed to go to, right after I decorate the whole house, address envelopes, and make the annual tot ornaments with Kay and Rae). Test anxiety advice? I might call ND, or have Mini call - but not sure she will, and see if she can get any test accommodations. She's seen our amazing fam therapist over zoom a number of times, so there's a trail of a professional in the loop. 

shop till you drop: unplanned memories to warm any heart (or break your back and your bank account)

Mom said good-bye to dad multiple times after she agreed to go shopping with me and the girls. 

When I walked into my house with Nana, announcing that she was going with us to the mall, the girls got giddy. They still act silly (even though they know Nana), when they're in a new social situation/receiving unexpected attention. It's harmless, but so is nails on a chalk board, if you know what I'm saying. After a few minutes and a raised eyebrow look from me, they settled down. 

I referred to these two
 as the peanut gallery. 

The girls didn't grasp that this was a 'them' shopping spree. The night before, Kay was invited to a caroling event. Finding something dressy enough for her to wear was a struggle, so I bumped up the need to get them dressy clothes on my to-do list. 

The girls' sizes land them in different departments, making the process lengthy. We shopped for Kay first. I sat Mom in a handicapped dressing room that was empty, so she could sit. Rae sat next to her and Kay paraded in with each new outfit. 

Nana had a few things to say:  Why is the waist so high on that dress? I don't think that one hangs as nicely on her as the other one. That one is just OK. Does she need a different size? Oh, I really like that one. How much is this one? 

Nana didn't like the
way it hung, but they
had the seamstress
steam it while
 we continued on our
shopping expedition. 

I loved that she was engaging and voting. It took the pressure off me to make final decisions, and I think the girls enjoyed her input/comments. 

Kay loves dressy dresses. Ask me how hard I want to kick myself for literally giving several garbage bags full of girls' clothing to my niece the summer before these two joined us?

Depending on when the adoption is finalized, maybe she can wear her new Christmas dress to court. She chose a beautiful formal navy gown. She had several options to choose from, but she gushed over this one. I also bought her a cute skirt and sweater for a more casual, but dressy look. 

I'd love to find Kay some black fashion boots. Lord help me here. Her feet are a 6 and an 8 in women's and a 4 and a 6 in kids, but most fashion boots in kids only go up to 5. And women's? We've got high heels, and pricey items to deal with. 

My definition of a foo-foo skirt.
 Not overly frilly, but perfectly
 cute. It'll work for Easter/spring.
 That top is just what Rae's
 wardrobe needed. A go-to
 for whenever. 

I warned Mom as we made our way to juniors, that Rae would be harder. She's very picky. We gathered up a bunch of options and headed into the dressing room. There were two chairs outside Rae's room, so Nana and I collapsed sat in those and the fashion show began. 

I shared photos with Mini and Curly. Both girls responded, which was awesome given it was a Friday night and they were both busy. Curly and Mini both voted for their favorites, which I know meant a lot to Rae. "Mini likes the green one the best, but she said the skirt also looks super cute.", etc. etc. "Curly said the last one is her fav but you should get the skirt, too." 

We bought a pair of navy/white pinstriped pants that the store is altering for Rae,  She also selected two dresses (what is even happening?), a pink foo-foo skirt, and a cream colored, dressy (as in knit, not blouse) long-sleeve v-neck top that will go with anything. 

Both girls were gonna need dressy shoes. My one mistake of the evening was

She also got a long
sleeved green
stretchy dress with
 gathered sides. 

wandering into the shoe department 15 minutes before closing. Fitting their mismatched club feet with shoes is a time-consuming challenge. My plan was to pop into the sale room and see what they had. The girls were with me, in the flesh. A rarity.

I again found Mom a chair. The girls and I grabbed a few shoes and asked the saleslady if they had various sizes. The saleslady argued with me, first telling me to go find the other size in the sale room myself (I was like, can you please check inventory on your computer. Hello, timing?). Then she told me that she couldn't sell me one pair and wait for a second pair to come in and THEN have me return the mismatched pair. 

I was tired. Mom was exhausted. I sighed, then told the woman. "I've done this a number of times." I explained how it works. She adjusted her approach, calling another store to see if they could ship me a different sized shoe for Rae to match the one we wanted to buy in the store. Rae wisely asked for a Mary Jane in a dress shoe, because of her foot's deformity/super high in-step. Otherwise it'll just pop off. 

By the time we left it was 15 minutes after closing. I bought a dressy silver ballerina flatss for Kay (they had both sizes, so done), one Mary Jane pair for Rae (hopefully the other pair coming in the mail will work). I apologized profusely for hitting their department so late in the night, but noted that I needed to see what clothes/colors we were working with. I thanked them for all of their help. 

Nana mentioned that it was nice that the store wasn't very crowded (even before it technically closed), and maybe that means she'll be back? All in all, it was a delightful night. I'd planned to stay home and watch British Baking Show with the girls while I hammered away at my laptop at the mini island between the kitchen and family room. Well, my chapter did not get submitted until noon on Saturday, but we are ready to be fancy over here. I'm still working on the fashion boots. Would love to score a pair for both of them. And then tights. The alterations department steamed Kay's dress while we were shopping too. 

Have you lingered past closing while shopping? When was the last time you shopped till you dropped? 

king me, "you have the tushie", and a small Christmas miracle

Oh what fun! We are getting things done over here at Chez Shenanigan. 

On Saturday:  I ran outside. Weather was supposed to be in the 40s - Let's go! Sunday looked even nicer. Monday still looked decent, so I planned to run Sat and Monday. Scoring two warmish weather runs out of the 'heat wave.' 

It made it into
the stand Sunday.

My run on Saturday? REALLY cold. With the wind, it felt like low 30s. I couldn't wait for it to be over. When Coach suggested we get a tree right after I returned, I agreed. I could do tree sap while gross and wind with a hat. Showering after made sense. 

The little girls, Coach, and I picked out a lovely tree. On the way home, we talked about Mission Mattress. The Chicago Original Mattress Factory  closed, messing up my game plan. He suggested we try a nearby 'store closing'. We dropped the girls home, and planned to be quick.

Well, have you shopped for a mattress in the last 26 years? Because we haven't. Quick is not a thing. We were the only people in the store, thank goodness. Our mattress choice was not one of the closeouts. Of course. 

I was just gonna stay in my long, heavy coat. Once home I'd:  shower, nap, load thermoses with dinner, go to 4:30 mass, and then straight to Curly's game. I'd stayed up late Fri night to finish my chapter, but didn't finish it till noon Saturday. Because I ended up having an adventure on Friday (that's my next post - get excited). 

It was 80 degrees in the store. Off came my coat, but not my hat. I'd put on a clean, very long, long sleeve shirt of Reg's that was in the kitchen. Still, not my favorite way to shop. 

We were torn between a medium tempur-pedic hybrid and a firm Beauty Rest. The guy suggested medium as I'm a side/belly sleeper and Coach is belly. I felt like if we went firm we might need the fancy-ass base. Have you seen those? They elevate feet, head, and do a vibration thing that helps circulation, but what I liked was the lumbar. We were leaning toward the Beauty Rest but opted for the tempur-pedic, because pressure point relief sounds dreamy. We dropped our life savings in the store, even though we skipped the base. 

AND . . . drumroll . . . IT'S A KING! Coach didn't even argue as I'd told him I was done with the queen. Merry Christmas (and Happy upcoming in 3 weeks, if you're counting birthday) to me!!

Welp. He says he tried all the strands before
he hung them and they all worked. Have we
 talked about how much our
neighbors must love us?

On Sunday:  I contacted Snapfish - our cards arrived but the photo was so dark, nothing like the actual photo. They're redoing them. 

I cut Reg and Coach's hair on the front porch in the balmy, I shoulda run today  weather. 

I took Curly and her new jeans back, because the alterations didn't make the waist tight enough. How's that for a problem to have? They agreed to make one pair tighter, but they can't make the other pair any tighter in the waist, because as the lady put it in her thick accent (she was from Greece, and she was lovely):  You have the tushie and then the no waist. When we got home, we saw that Coach had put the lights up. 

But Friday, Friday was a day of small Christmas miracles. 

Coach, Reg, and Curly weren't home. When I dropped off dinner to my folks at 5:15, (Mom had already eaten more of the Costco dinner that I'd brought Thurs.) I asked Mom if she'd like to join me at Von Maur to buy the girls dresses/dress clothes for Christmas. 

Mom:  Oh, yeah. I'll just get my coat. It isn't snowing, is it?

Well, you could've blown me over. Mom usually refuses to go places. I assured her it was not snowing. (she asked two more times -  she might be forgetful but she remembers to be fearful of slippery roads). I was about to tell her that I'd get her after the girls and I attended a 6:00 church event, but I bit my tongue. 

Go with the flow! Make memories! 

I knew the girls would be excited. It had been ages since I took them both shopping, aside from the Old Navy run when Mini and I bought Rae jeans. And Nana had never gone shopping with them. 

Deets on our shop till you drop with Nana adventure in my next post. My closet post is an ongoing saga. Stay tuned. Hope you are feeling little to no panic and savoring life's little adventures. Do you get a real or fake tree? Can you believe Coach agreed to a king? Anyone own a bed with a remote that 'does stuff' - raise feet, raise head, lumbar support? 

We did it to ourselves: The Christmas poem edition

A woman who once coached Curly in a travel league has three kids. After our girls joined separate teams, we only bump into each other a few times a year. In addition to her daughter, she has two sons (a few years older and a few years younger than the daughter) named Graham and Grant. I struggle to remember which is the older brother and which is younger. When I apologized for getting their names mixed up, she said, "We did it to ourselves." 

This line cracked me up, and it's playing in my internal dialogue as I carve out time to write my annual Christmas poem recap. 'I did it to myself' - note, Coach cannot take ownership here. He'd be happy to ditch the poem. 

I know it isn't necessary. I can skip it, but it's tradition. Many people reach out  each year, saying they always look forward to my rhyming recap complete with a photo collage. 

The background:  Curly was due Christmas day '07. I was induced the 19th. My doc wouldn't let me wait until after Christmas, saying my babies were too big. He also worried I'd land in the hospital on Dec. 25th.

I drafted a poem for Curly's birth announcement. Unsure if I was having a boy or a girl, I wrote 2 versions then inserted her name/weight and printed them on our computer a few days after she arrived. The poem started out:  'Twas the 19th of December and we were asleep in the house, The place is always chaotic - these kids are rarely as quiet as a mouse. (*paraphrasing). 

The poem went on to describe how Coach brought the kids to the hospital, Now dash away, (blah blah blah). In the photo, Mini is holding Curly and has probably never looked happier. 

People enjoyed that short, baby-centered version, and I've been writing an annual Christmas poem recap ever since. If you're interested in receiving a card from me this year, please either email me your address with 'Annual Poem Please' in the subject line. My email address is:   my real last name clan7@yahoo.com  . . . or fill out this form here. If you've given me your address before, please resend, and mention in the comments below that you've requested a card so I can double check I'm not missing any requests. 

Since I started this year's poem after NaBloPoMo, I'm little anxious. These things take time. I like to read it to the fam-damly before finalizing it. Over the years, the kids, who are thick skinned, sometimes request I delete something they've done. 

The year an exotic red frog of Lad's hopped out from under my fridge, feet covered in dust, I about died. I'd bent down to pick up what I thought was a dropped raspberry as I was in the process of cutting up fruit. I worked that snafu into my poem, detailing the whole story in a few rhyming lines that flowed perfectly. We all died laughing, but  . . . Lad was not amused. I removed it. Ba humbug. In case you're new here, Lad was a grown-ass man, still living with us, when this happened without ever asking us if he could keep like 25 aquariums in his small room. Lest you think he was a 12 year old kid. 

Gift idea:  Does anyone have a recommendation for a book/guide to being a confident tween girl? In my last post I shared how the girls are easily influenced. They're excessively boy crazy. Who knows what mindsets they were exposed to before they moved in with us 1.5 years ago. (my suspicion:  You're nothing without a boyfriend, etc.?) We prefer they focus on who they are, be sure of themselves, and not compromise their values, etc. to impress a boy. We're working to lay a foundation sort of after the fact. Our family therapist suggested this American Girl book. 

After intermission, I moved to an empty
seat behind the girls, because I couldn't
 see anything from my seat next to Rae. I
wonder if this hit a little close to home.
 Maybe they wish Daddy
Warbucks was adopting them?

My goal this weekend:  get stuff DONE. Finish/make progress on the poem, submit my chapter to writer's my writher's workshop (slim chance - haven't started it), decorate, buy a tree, shop for a mattress, and attend Curly's game (without losing my mind. Last night the refs called a foul on Curly when she blocked a shot - jumping up, knocked the ball away, She did not coming into contact with the player before or after . . . add that to other frustrations and my face felt sunburned by the time we lost. We are a much better team. This was a conference game and it mattered). 

I've done a little shopping and baked nothing. I took the little girls to see Annie on Sunday though, which counts as a gift for them. I'll wrap up a framed photo as a reminder. Do you gift experiences?  Today is Tank's 22nd birthday. If you're a long time reader, any fav Tank memories? 

 

ask me anything response: something I resent paying for

What’s something you really resent paying for? (Me - parking. I live in the Midwest and paying for parking seems outrageous!) 

Thanks, Engie for asking me the above questions in my ask me anything form. These are some thought provoking inquiries. 

I have a few thought on what I resent paying for. 1. We sent the girls to a very small (about 10 kids a grade), private, Catholic school this year. They gave us significant scholarship money. The school environment has impacted the girls, and how we manage some of their issues in a very positive way. The kids at their current school are raised with a a focus on values. There's no entitlement, no mean kids. It's a remarkable place. Still, I wish we could send them to our very good public school for zero dollars. I mean, we CAN, but we tried that and we were pounding our heads against the wall. 

Unrelated:  making Tank's bday dinner over
 Thanksgiving break. One thing we
 don't spend a lot on is eating out. 

Our girls are very insecure and haven't had a great example or a strong foundation. They are easily swayed and influenced. Our bio kids attended our public school and made great friends and avoided hanging with anyone who was mean or who might not be parented with a lot of intention. We think this was in large part because we'd instilled values in them. They knew to pivot if another kid was acting in a way that we wouldn't have approved of, etc. 

Last year a girl (whose family we've known for years, and whose parents essentially stopped parenting ages ago . . . handed their kids booty shorts, a crop top, a cell phone, and let them do what they wanted with no rules and no accountability) told Rae that she had 'a good hourglass figure, but it needed some work/was a little fat.' So, Rae stopped eating. 

Fortunately I noticed a notebook laid open on her dresser when I was putting a tot to bed in her room. It included a schedule of what meals she was gonna skip, etc. 

Me:  OH, HELL NO. 

I called the school and told them to have Rae call me between classes. When she called me, I was like "What'd you eat for breakfast?" Wasn't hungry. "What's you pack for lunch?" Forgot it.

Me:  So, I'm not playing this way. You can walk home everyday and eat lunch with me and a bunch of babies, or you can eat at school with friends and have a staff member check that you're eating. I'll arrange that as soon as we hang up. But skipping meals is not an option. Whatever gave you that idea?

Rae:  It was just a joke. 

Me:  Yeah, right. Well I'm not laughing. 

She opted to stay at school and a staff member verified that she ate lunch. After school, it didn't take long before I put the pieces together. OH, WAS IT VIVIAN? Yeah. 

I told her about my bestie in high school who yo-yo dieted and skipped meals and ended up gaining weight, because she threw off her body's natural metabolism, etc. I reiterated that she was prefect the way she was, that genetics play a factor, and eating healthy and getting exercise and sleeping right are all factors that make a body and mind healthy. 

We are now trying to decide about high school. Will we send them to a similar high school, that will cost us $$$? I don't want to set them up for failure at our public high school, but yikes- we hadn't factored a private high school into the equation. This particular high school is also very small (40 kids a grade), no computers, with faith woven into every aspect of the day, and it isn't as expensive as other area Catholic high schools. It isn't terribly convenient, but there are probably several carpool options. 

2. Healthcare stuff. I haven't done a lot of research on this, but I feel like other countries do this better. Our medical bills are so stupidly expensive. I feel like the US would benefit from a better system. I do NOT have the answers though. 

Do you think that aliens exist? No, I do not think aliens exist. No reason to back that up, but I just don't think there is. 

Anyone else have something they resent paying for? Anyone believe in aliens?  

The Finale of NaBloPoMo: WHAT movie are you watching? Pie, & Expired

Here we are . . . the last day of November. The last post of NaBloPoMo. 

I've got a few things I haven't shared yet. One of my favorite recent stories happened in mid October. Coach was out of town. Friday night I put on a movie for the girls. I texted Coach an update. 

Me:  We're watching Old School. I love this movie. 

Unrelated:  I made two pumpkin chiffon
 pies for Thanksgiving and we transported
them in a cooler without issue. Reg bought
 GF ginger snaps for me at the store to use
 as the crust. I didn't expect him to
 get GF, but dang- I got to eat
the pie. So tasty. 

Coach:  Ernie, what? That's not a movie for kids. Turn it off. 

Me:  Huh? It's so funny. It's fine. 

Coach continued to beg me to turn it off. All of a sudden it dawned on me. I'd gotten the name of the movie mixed up. We were watching School of Rock, which is appropriate, but I'd mistakenly referred to it as Old School, which is a movie with drinking and frat parties, etc. I died laughing. DIED. I texted my mess up in the family chat, because the kids know how worked up Coach gets about inappropriate movies. He was in a hotel room losing his mind, but fortunately we figured out the misunderstanding in about 5 minutes. 

A few hours later, I was about to go to bed. When I got a text from Lad. 

*Mini and Ed had made plans to visit Tank at school. As the date approached, Mini started to feel guilty, realizing that Lad would be upset when he found out about their weekend. I texted Tank. Tank decided to text Lad, saying I know you work weekends, so wasn't sure you could come. You're welcome to join us, but I cannot tolerate your impulsivity. The bottom line is that Lad has ADD, but refused to take medication. He has difficulty owning his behavior and he does things without thinking sometimes. 

So, minutes before I went to bed Lad texted me, asking if I had his passport. 

Me:  Nope. I don't. 

Lad:  I know you have it. 

We went back and forth. I was like, Why? Don't you have your drivers license? 

Lad:  Yes, I do. 

Me:  Then why do you need your passport? 

Lad:  My license expired on my birthday. (this was October and his birthday was in June. JUNE). 

The bouncer wouldn't let him in the 'good' bar. I eventually went to bed, but I was worried that Lad would ruin the sibling visit. My stomach was in knots.

The next day, I found out that Ed dug out his old European ID from his semester abroad and  Lad (who is clearly closer to 26 than he is to 21) was able to use it to get in. 

What were the chances? Lad, Ed, and Tank are all 21 and over. Mini is 20, but had a believable fake ID. Lad was the oldest of the three of them, and he was the one struggling to get into the bar. *eyeroll*

The four of them enjoyed the weekend (phew), and all was fine. Lad still needs to find his passport, but that's not my problem. I need to start paying attention to the names of movies so that I don't give Coach another heart attack. 

Have you messed up the name of something recently, causing confusion? Ever 'forget' to renew your license? 

I know some of you asked me questions on my AMA form. I'll answer those soon. Thanks so very much for reading my posts this month. I really appreciate your comments. It's been great meeting new bloggers and I'm grateful for those of you who are frequent flyers here. Since I missed the last day or two of NBPM last year, I'm excited to 1. complete the month, and 2. be enjoying a much less stressful November as last year. I think I was able to participate last year, because I wasn't sleeping.